A lot of water under the bridges that I have crossed in the last couple of years.
I have always under estimated things, like how much time it takes to do......., how long does it take to ................ And how much of an adjustment to life changes one has to make.
I'm not sure anyone even reads this blog but here is the last three years in a nut shell.
Mary worked out wonderfully we had a great summer together so much so she came back for another. Then went back home and then moved back to Oregon where she is having a fine time working for a Golf Sportswear maker.
The life on the road became very hard, so much so that I developed a severe case of IBS. This started about mid way through Mary's second internship and never really got much better until I saw a nutrition expert and eliminated fiber from my diet. That and reducing the amount of stress I had in my life.
Moving several times a year back and forward to Los Angeles and back again, carrying a whole yarn company was a lot of the stress but living apart from Mike, trying to juggle two households and a business just wasn't working out. Mike retired Dec. 1, 2012 and we sold our little house in Lakewood CA. and settled down in St. Helens Or.
This was great! Except for the fact I wasn't use to being a full time housewife, or having Mike home all the time. This was wonderful but holy moly, being a full time housewife again and running Tanglewood was really hard. Mike wanted to play, he wanted help, he wanted to eat, he wanted to sleep, he wanted the house clean, he wanted kittens. WOW! Wow, my time was filled from morning to night, cooking, loading the dishwasher, unloading the dishwasher, cleaning, more cooking.
He mowed the lawn, cleaned out the barn, swept, went to the grocery store, went to the hardware store. Magically St. Helens went from a slightly disused wayside to a house, and then almost a home.
However I had the itch to downsize, and get closer into an area that had a hospital, closer to Becky's house, closer to services of every kind, Silverton, OR. was the place for me.
We went back and forth to Silverton, staying with Becky and doing things there, all of a sudden we were almost living here. Becky got things fixed at her house too, again Mike went to hardware stores, fixed things etc.
We bought a little Scamp trailer and went clear to Backus Minn. to get it, then camped across the country back to Oregon. Now I had everything I could want to travel, my own little home. We have traveled, taking long trips all over the Pacific Northwest. We went to Trailing of the Sheep in Ketchum Idaho. We went to the beach in Oregon, we made a trip to Los Angeles down 101, through the Redwoods and everything!
With the huge changes it was becoming harder and harder to make yarn in a timely manor, there just wasn't time! Yarn making is noisy, and hand-spun yarn takes a lot of time to make. Before Retirement I had all day and night, every day to work, even in Los Angeles I could work up to Mikes arrival from work and then when he was asleep there could be more work. Retired Mike started insisting no work after 5, and bed time before midnight. That cut into production time. Then there was the jobs. Cleaning, cooking, yard work, holy moly my work time was cut by 3/4ths. Impossible to keep things going but still I hung in there.
Then on March 17th, 2014 we went looking at houses in Silverton and bam bought a huge lot and the idea of a house. Construction started mid April and went by fits and starts until September when construction slowed to a snails pace. Finally on Nov. 28, 2014 we got the keys and moved in Dec. 1st. 2014.
Downsizing was my idea, the new house is lovely and huge, but smaller than St. Helens, effectively loosing the space that I had for Tanglewood.
There is no space for an office and production room, never mind the dye studio, and suddenly I didn't really want to make space. I loved my new house (that is cleaned by another person) a larger and well appointed kitchen, (to do all that cooking in), and it's in the little dream town of Silverton.
Becky is two miles away close enough to pop over for dinner or even a cup of tea. During all the building this past year Steven decided he would take Becky up on her offer of a room and moved back to Oregon, and got a wonderful job at the Silver Falls Library.
Wow is your head spinning now? During the holidays (which were magical) Mike and Steven had an intervention with me and I decided to retire Tanglewood Fiber Creations, with great sadness but it was time. I just was struggling too much. Mike had to come first and with our new house comes great plans for a huge garden, full of veggies, fruit and flowers. Having spent several summers helping Becky with her garden, and not being able to as much this summer, it was clear there wasn't going to be any time for Tanglewood. It's been 10 years of amazing fun, but time for a different fun.
On Jan.11, 2015 I sold Tanglewood to the nicest Spinner Aleatha! She will take Tanglewood to the next level!
So there you have it! We are slowly moving to Silverton one trailer load at a time. There is a lot less as we continue to sell, give away, and throw away 20 years of accumulation. Then St. Helens will be up for sale and we will start our next adventure. Stay tuned I'm back!
I have always under estimated things, like how much time it takes to do......., how long does it take to ................ And how much of an adjustment to life changes one has to make.
I'm not sure anyone even reads this blog but here is the last three years in a nut shell.
Mary worked out wonderfully we had a great summer together so much so she came back for another. Then went back home and then moved back to Oregon where she is having a fine time working for a Golf Sportswear maker.
The life on the road became very hard, so much so that I developed a severe case of IBS. This started about mid way through Mary's second internship and never really got much better until I saw a nutrition expert and eliminated fiber from my diet. That and reducing the amount of stress I had in my life.
Moving several times a year back and forward to Los Angeles and back again, carrying a whole yarn company was a lot of the stress but living apart from Mike, trying to juggle two households and a business just wasn't working out. Mike retired Dec. 1, 2012 and we sold our little house in Lakewood CA. and settled down in St. Helens Or.This was great! Except for the fact I wasn't use to being a full time housewife, or having Mike home all the time. This was wonderful but holy moly, being a full time housewife again and running Tanglewood was really hard. Mike wanted to play, he wanted help, he wanted to eat, he wanted to sleep, he wanted the house clean, he wanted kittens. WOW! Wow, my time was filled from morning to night, cooking, loading the dishwasher, unloading the dishwasher, cleaning, more cooking.He mowed the lawn, cleaned out the barn, swept, went to the grocery store, went to the hardware store. Magically St. Helens went from a slightly disused wayside to a house, and then almost a home.
However I had the itch to downsize, and get closer into an area that had a hospital, closer to Becky's house, closer to services of every kind, Silverton, OR. was the place for me.
We went back and forth to Silverton, staying with Becky and doing things there, all of a sudden we were almost living here. Becky got things fixed at her house too, again Mike went to hardware stores, fixed things etc.
We bought a little Scamp trailer and went clear to Backus Minn. to get it, then camped across the country back to Oregon. Now I had everything I could want to travel, my own little home. We have traveled, taking long trips all over the Pacific Northwest. We went to Trailing of the Sheep in Ketchum Idaho. We went to the beach in Oregon, we made a trip to Los Angeles down 101, through the Redwoods and everything!With the huge changes it was becoming harder and harder to make yarn in a timely manor, there just wasn't time! Yarn making is noisy, and hand-spun yarn takes a lot of time to make. Before Retirement I had all day and night, every day to work, even in Los Angeles I could work up to Mikes arrival from work and then when he was asleep there could be more work. Retired Mike started insisting no work after 5, and bed time before midnight. That cut into production time. Then there was the jobs. Cleaning, cooking, yard work, holy moly my work time was cut by 3/4ths. Impossible to keep things going but still I hung in there.
Downsizing was my idea, the new house is lovely and huge, but smaller than St. Helens, effectively loosing the space that I had for Tanglewood.
There is no space for an office and production room, never mind the dye studio, and suddenly I didn't really want to make space. I loved my new house (that is cleaned by another person) a larger and well appointed kitchen, (to do all that cooking in), and it's in the little dream town of Silverton.
Becky is two miles away close enough to pop over for dinner or even a cup of tea. During all the building this past year Steven decided he would take Becky up on her offer of a room and moved back to Oregon, and got a wonderful job at the Silver Falls Library.
Wow is your head spinning now? During the holidays (which were magical) Mike and Steven had an intervention with me and I decided to retire Tanglewood Fiber Creations, with great sadness but it was time. I just was struggling too much. Mike had to come first and with our new house comes great plans for a huge garden, full of veggies, fruit and flowers. Having spent several summers helping Becky with her garden, and not being able to as much this summer, it was clear there wasn't going to be any time for Tanglewood. It's been 10 years of amazing fun, but time for a different fun.
On Jan.11, 2015 I sold Tanglewood to the nicest Spinner Aleatha! She will take Tanglewood to the next level!
So there you have it! We are slowly moving to Silverton one trailer load at a time. There is a lot less as we continue to sell, give away, and throw away 20 years of accumulation. Then St. Helens will be up for sale and we will start our next adventure. Stay tuned I'm back!
